Battersea carbooty!

Now, I like nay love a good carboot.

I blame the fam...when I am back home visiting my fam in Norwich, we attend as many as we can fit in. And we always leave them laden with things.

Weirdly though, in my 4 years of living in the big smoke, I have never gotten around to attending a carboot here! 

So on sunday, with a day to myself and no plans whatsoever (well, before the dreaded nightshift), I finally attended my first ever London carboot...Battersea!

And boy am I glad I did!

I ventured down south of the river, and jumped off the bus with glee as I reached my destination! I'm not joking when I say I may well have let out a little yelp of excitement as I approached the school playground. An old chap curtsied to me and said I had a wonderful skirt on, which made me chuckle as I handed over my 50p entrance fee- and I was off.

There were plenty of stalls and it was rammed.....and this was on a wet day, so one can only imagine what it must me like on a sunny day! There was the standard mix of junk, bric a brac, vintage and antique, as well as a burger van and a chap selling rather delicious looking cakes (of which I might've bought one had I not been saving every penny I had in case it was needed for treasures).

Want to see what I picked up?

(apologies for the pictures, you can't get a proper sense of how wonderful the dresses are with them just being on a hanger, but alas Mr Mike is off visiting his fam up north and thus not around to take photos of me in them, and my beloved dressmakers dummy Diana has a broken leg)

My first buy was this charming 50's(?) basket bag for a mere £1! It was nestled in amongst some terribly awful bags in a box labeled "All bags £1.50 £1". I saw a lady handling this and hovered behind her until she put it down, then swooped in before she had a chance to change her mind! 

Then I spotted this beauty fluttering in the (very strong) wind...

A beautiful floral 40's wrap dress! For £7! I couldn't even tell if it would fit me, but I thought it was worth the risk...it was! It just about fits, with a slip underneath to avoid any big reveals of course! I love that this was obviously home made by some lady, the inside seams are raw, and one of the front edges is just the fabric's selvedge, not even seamed! Delicious.

Now from the same lady, I also purchased this butterfly in a gold frame. He's mounted on gold leaf, no less! He was only £1 and is beautiful.

And also, again from the same lady, I got this lovely lace dress...

It's made of a delicate white lace, with a peplum waist and capelet sleeves. She gave me this and the slip she would wear under it for £7 too. The lace has a slight tear to it, but I can put some tiny stitches in it. I have images in my head of an elegant lady (not me) wearing this to summer garden parties where she would drink tea and eat cakes! 

Next I found this gorgeous knitted dress for £5.

You can't see from the photos, but the colour is a pale yellow, with lilac flowers and stripes running through it. It has a little tie waist and a flared skirt. I just love the colour combination, and the little crocheted flowers at the neckline!

I have no idea how old (or recent) the lace and knitted dresses are! Any of you clever ladies got any clues? The lace one has some overlocked seams, so can't be as old as it looks. And the knitted one seemingly has machine-sewn seams and hand sewn hems. I have literally no idea with these but would love to find out!

Next, with funds running low I picked up this cotton hankie with an embroidered 'P' for £1. This is a present that I am going to pop in the post for my nan!

And finally, with only £3 left in my purse, I found this little mirror for £2 and snapped it up.

On the back it states "To commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth", and features a gold silhouette of the two, and the year "1937".

On the front, it says "Louis H. Emm ~ The Warlingham Grocer". I've done a little bit of a google search but have thus far found nothing. I wish I could find out some information on this mirror! Why does it exist? Who did it belong to? Who is Louis H. Emm? Was he The Warlingham Grocer? I need to know!

All in all, I'd say this was a very successful sunday, and I shall most definitely be returning to the Battersea carboot.

And guess what...it doesn't start til 1.30pm!  Possibly the most perfect sunday carboot start time.

Did any of you lovely lot visit any carboots this weekend? Have any of you ever been to the Battersea one? Or got any London carboting tips?

Pip pip xx